Lebanon Plantation

Lebanon Plantation is a privately owned historic estate and working plantation located on Ogeechee Road approximately nine miles southwest of downtown Savannah, Georgia. The property covers more than 500 acres and is identified with the cedar trees that gave it the name Lebanon. Although it is sometimes treated as a historic place rather than a conventional consumer brand, the Lebanon name also functions as an estate and provenance identity through agricultural production and the Verdant Kitchen business founded on the property. The land entered the colonial record through a grant to James Deveaux in 1756. A further 500-acre grant made to Phillip Delegal in 1758 was later incorporated into the plantation. The site developed during the period when Georgia was transitioning from a frontier colony into an agricultural society. Its early history is connected to the region's Indigenous communities, European colonial rivalry, the establishment of Savannah, and the expansion of plantation agriculture. The source material also records that Stephen Deane and Fenda Lawrence, partners in the African slave trade, raised their mixed-race children at Lebanon during the American Revolution. As with many Georgia plantations, the property's economic history is inseparable from the development of enslaved labor after Georgia's original prohibition on slavery was revoked in 1749. Joseph Habersham purchased Lebanon in 1802 and sold it two years later to George W. Anderson. Anderson built the principal house, which was subsequently altered and rebuilt. During the American Civil War, George Wayne Anderson Jr., commander of nearby Fort McAllister, was imprisoned at his own home after the fort fell. Lebanon then became the headquarters of the Fifteenth Army Corps of the United States Army. The estate was damaged during the occupation, foreclosed upon in 1868, recovered by George W. Anderson in 1871, and repaired and rebuilt by April 1873. The house's current character reflects successive layers of construction, including a nineteenth-century Greek Revival core and a later Neoclassical veranda. After the Civil War, Anderson divided portions of the property and permitted French immigrants to establish a settlement known as L'Esperance. Their attempts to cultivate vineyards were unsuccessful. In 1916, Savannah businessman Mills Bee Lane purchased the plantation from Anderson family heirs. The Lane family developed the Savannah Satsuma, a new variety of orange associated with the estate. Ownership later passed to Mills Bee Lane's grandson Howard J. Morrison Jr. and Morrison's wife, Mary Reynolds Morrison, maintaining three generations of Lane–Morrison family ownership. In the twenty-first century, Lebanon remains a private working plantation and is not generally open to the public. Its agricultural identity expanded through Verdant Kitchen, founded in 2012 by Howard Morrison and Brisbane native Ross Harding. The enterprise grows ginger, turmeric, and galangal on the estate and processes them in a USDA-certified organic facility. Its products include beverages, baked goods, candies, snacks, and spices sold through regional farmers markets, online channels, and specialty grocery and gourmet stores. The plantation therefore combines historic-site stewardship, family ownership, agricultural production, and specialty-food entrepreneurship rather than operating primarily as a mass-market branded-goods company.

Lebanon Plantation occupies land in Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain southwest of Savannah. Archaeological evidence of oyster-shell deposits indicates that Indigenous peoples used the surrounding area, probably on a seasonal basis, long before European settlement. At the time of early European exploration, the wider region was associated with the Yuchi and Creek peoples. The Savannah area later became part of the English colonial project established in the 1730s, after a period in which Spanish claims and Native American alliances made the Georgia coast a contested buffer between Spanish Florida and the English colonies to the north. The property that became Lebanon Plantation was granted to James Deveaux in 1756. Phillip Delegal received another 500 acres in 1758, and that tract eventually became part of the plantation. The estate's name is traditionally linked to the cedar trees growing on the property. During the colonial and Revolutionary eras, the surrounding agricultural economy developed within Georgia's changing labor system. Georgia's founding charter had prohibited slavery, but the ban was removed in 1749, after which plantation owners increasingly relied on enslaved labor. The history of Lebanon also includes the presence of Stephen Deane and Fenda Lawrence, partners in the African slave trade, who raised their mixed-race children there during the American Revolution. Joseph Habersham acquired the plantation in 1802 and sold it in 1804 to George W. Anderson. Anderson constructed the main house, which grew through additions and later rebuilding. The estate's architecture reflects continuous occupation and adaptation rather than a single completed building campaign. Its central form developed in the nineteenth-century Greek Revival tradition, while later work added a Neoclassical veranda and other changes. Lebanon played a direct role in the military history of the American Civil War. George Wayne Anderson Jr., who commanded Fort McAllister, was imprisoned at his home after the fort was captured. The plantation was occupied by United States forces and used as the headquarters of the Fifteenth Army Corps. Accounts associated with the site describe a post-capture dinner involving General William Tecumseh Sherman, General William Babcock Hazen, Lieutenant Colonel Strong, and Major Anderson, during which Anderson argued with Sherman about the defense of Fort McAllister and the conduct of the battle. The occupation caused substantial damage to the main house. The property was foreclosed upon in 1868, recovered by George W. Anderson in 1871, and repaired or rebuilt by April 23, 1873. In the postwar period Anderson divided parts of the estate and permitted French immigrants to establish L'Esperance, a colony that attempted to grow grapes and produce wine. The vineyard project did not succeed. In 1916, Mills Bee Lane purchased Lebanon from the Anderson heirs. Lane's family became associated with the Savannah Satsuma, an orange variety developed and grown at the plantation. Ownership subsequently continued through the Lane–Morrison family. Howard J. Morrison Jr. later owned the property with his wife, Mary Reynolds Morrison, representing the third generation of that family to hold Lebanon continuously. The modern estate remains private and continues to function as a working plantation. In 2012, Howard Morrison and Ross Harding founded Verdant Kitchen, linking the historic property's agricultural resources with a specialty-food operation. Ginger, turmeric, and galangal are cultivated and harvested at Lebanon, sliced, dried, and ground at raw-food temperatures in a USDA-certified organic processing facility. Finished beverages, baked goods, candies, snacks, and spices are produced in the company's USDA-approved Atlanta kitchen and distributed through farmers markets, online sales, and specialty food retailers. Lebanon thus survives as both a historic landscape and an active agricultural property, although it is not generally open to the public.

• 2012

  Verdant Kitchen is founded

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Howard Morrison and Ross Harding established Verdant Kitchen, a specialty-food business using crops grown and processed in association with Lebanon Plantation.

• 1916

  The Lane family acquires Lebanon

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Mills Bee Lane purchased the plantation from Anderson family heirs and began the Lane–Morrison period of ownership.

• 1873

  Postwar rebuilding is completed

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The plantation house had been rebuilt and repaired by April 23, 1873.

• 1871

  George W. Anderson recovers the property

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Anderson recovered ownership, after which the damaged main house was repaired and rebuilt.

• 1868

  The estate is foreclosed upon

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Lebanon was foreclosed upon during the difficult postwar period.

• 1864

  Lebanon becomes a Civil War headquarters

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  After the fall of Fort McAllister, the occupied plantation served as the headquarters of the Fifteenth Army Corps, while George Wayne Anderson Jr. was held there.

• 1804

  George W. Anderson acquires the estate

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Anderson purchased Lebanon and built the principal house associated with the historic estate.

• 1802

  Joseph Habersham purchases Lebanon

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph Habersham acquired the plantation, beginning a short period of ownership before its transfer to George W. Anderson.

• 1758

  Additional land is granted to Phillip Delegal

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Phillip Delegal received an additional 500-acre grant that was later incorporated into Lebanon Plantation.

• 1756

  James Deveaux receives the original plantation grant

  [1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  The land that would become Lebanon Plantation was granted to James Deveaux during the colonial period.

A private historic working plantation whose contemporary identity emphasizes agricultural heritage, locally grown botanicals, organic processing, and specialty foods through the associated Verdant Kitchen enterprise.

• Agricultural crop and specialty food ingredient

  Ginger

  Lebanon Plantation grows ginger for Verdant Kitchen. The harvested roots are sliced, dried, and ground at low or raw-food temperatures in a USDA-certified organic processing facility before being used in beverages, baked goods, candies, snacks, and spice products.

• Agricultural crop and specialty food ingredient

  Turmeric

  Turmeric is among the botanical crops cultivated at the plantation and used by the associated Verdant Kitchen operation. Processing and finished-product manufacture connect the estate's agricultural output with packaged specialty foods.

• Agricultural crop and specialty food ingredient

  Galangal

  Galangal, described in the source material as Thai ginger, is grown and harvested at Lebanon Plantation. It is dried and ground for use in the associated specialty-food range.

• Citrus variety

  Savannah Satsuma

  A new variety of orange known as the Savannah Satsuma was grown at Lebanon after Mills Bee Lane acquired the estate in 1916. The variety is part of the plantation's twentieth-century agricultural history.

• 2012

  Developing a specialty-food business around estate-grown cropsStrategy

  Background

  Lebanon Plantation remained a working agricultural estate, while its owners sought a contemporary commercial expression for the property's crops and agricultural heritage.

  Action taken

  Howard Morrison and Ross Harding founded Verdant Kitchen and built a production model around ginger, turmeric, and galangal grown at Lebanon and processed into specialty foods.

  Aftermath

  The plantation's agricultural output reached farmers markets, online customers, and specialty grocery and gourmet stores through beverages, baked goods, candies, snacks, and spices.

  Source

• 1916

  Lane family acquisition and citrus developmentOther

  Background

  The Anderson family heirs sold the plantation after more than a century of Anderson ownership and postwar rebuilding.

  Action taken

  Mills Bee Lane purchased Lebanon and developed the Savannah Satsuma orange variety on the property.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition began the Lane–Morrison family's multigenerational association with the estate.

  Source

• 2012

  Verdant Kitchen founded at Lebanon Plantation[1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Other · Product launch

  Howard Morrison and Ross Harding established Verdant Kitchen as an agricultural specialty-food enterprise associated with Lebanon Plantation.

• Lebanon Plantation expands its agricultural identity through Verdant Kitchen[1]Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The estate's ginger, turmeric, and galangal are grown and harvested on the property, then processed into specialty foods and beverages for regional and specialty retail channels.

1. 1Lebanon Plantationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Register of Historic Places informationnpgallery.nps.gov